A week, a life, deaths
by mightygamer64
Summary: A week of survival... Shouldn't be so tough, they say... In super smash bros melee world. LAST CHAPTER POSTED!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: the tests**

"Falco, it's time to go."

I turn back to Fox, who is just behind me.

"Ugh... I hate those tests..."

This day is the worst day of year. It's the day when the master hand summons us and spies us at the stadium while we do some physical tests. Then, he chooses the ten best of us to participate in a survival week. Usually, Fox and I act like we're bad so we won't be chosen in that week. Instead, we stay on the Great fox and help the others on surviving by dropping things they need. It's mostly food. Fox just smile before jumping off the ship. I follow him. If we're not at the stadium when we're supposed to, the Master hand comes where you are to kill you _in private_. It's probably long and painful...

The two of us land on Onett. The stadium is not so far from there. We walk in silence. We're both nervous even if we shouldn't. It's been like, 5 years that we're doing this. When we arrive at the stadium, Zelda, Link and the Ice climbers are already there. Zelda and Link live at Hyrule that is up in the sky and the Ice climbers live on Icicle Mountain. I sit next to Link who is shaking a little. Maybe I should try to cheer him up a little. Ugh... I'm so bad at this...

"It won't be so tough, isn't it?"

He sigh.

"The master hand knows me too much. I can fake only at running and jumping. He knows I'm good with a sword and a bow and I'm not good at hiding anyway."

"Yeah I'm bad at hiding too and now that I think about it, I can't fake with my blaster."

He smile a little.

"You were pretty good last year."

"Thanks, I'm usually good at jumping and running, but you know, I don't want to participate in that stupid survival week."

"I agree it's stupid."

An awkward silence settles down. I hate that. At least, he stopped shacking. When I look around, I notice a few others has arrived. When Mewtwo and Ganondorf will come, we'll start. Everyone is talking loudly. It's been almost six months that we didn't see ourselves. There are a lot of things to talk about. I notice how Roy and Marth are pale. Poor them, they were stuck underground. They usually live with Zelda and Link in Hyrule, but there's only Zelda who can teleport there and they wanted to live with Samus a little. Since they didn't see Zelda after, they couldn't return there. Yep, here, you live underground or in the sky. The ground is only for transitions or that survival week. If someone goes there for no reasons, the Master hand kills you. Personally, Fox and I prefer the sky so we just live on Great Fox.

Nobody's talking anymore. It's because Mewtwo and Ganondorf teleported a little behind Link and I. They are the _killers_ of the gang. They do their best in the tests and they're always selected. The week is more a survival from _them_ than finding food and all. Ganondorf doesn't run fast and doesn't jump really high, but he has a weird levitating trick. He's really good at melee combat and distance shoot and he's really bad at hiding but his combat make it up. Mewtwo can teleport at will so he never really did the running and jumping tests. He can turn invisible so he's good at hiding. He's good at combat because of his psychic skills. He can crush anything near or far. The two of them kill for pleasure. If killing someone isn't interesting, they just let him or her agonise and they walk away. They walked near us. Once they were just behind, Link standed up and got out of their way. I was about to move when I remembered the moment Ganon killed Luigi. I was on the Great Fox and Fox and I passed when he tore his heart to pieces. I was so mad. I almost jumped from the ship to teach him a lesson but Fox stopped me at the last moment. I never told Mario. I'm still furious at Ganon. His voice is getting on my nerves each time now.

"Move, stupid bird."

You know what, Ganon? Just for this, I won't move.

"Yeah, and what? You'll snatch my eye?"

I think I'll regret what I said but that guy deserves it. He grab me by my coat.

"I could do it, it's a good idea."

That's where Dr. Mario, the guy that doesn't do tests because he writes down the notes, comes.

"Mr. Ganondorf, you know you can't do that."

He groans and put me down.

"I'll kill you in the arena, birdie."

I look at him right in the eyes for a second and he walks away. Fox grabs my shoulder.

"Dude, you're okay?"

"Heck, I am."

"You know he could have killed you!"

"I know, but someone needed to stand before this guy. He's not the king, nobody is!"

I sigh.

"I really needed to challenge him after what happened with Luigi..."

"You saw what happened to him?"

We turn and see Mario. If I could blush, I would right now. I mean I can't tell him. He tore your brother's heart to pieces; I can't say this like that. I hope Fox would tell something right now.

He does.

"Hum, we're going to tell you after the tests, okay?"

He nod and walk away.

"Thanks, Fox, you just saved my life."

Dr. Mario calls for the jumping test. The line starts to form in front of a pole with some movable bars attached to it. Ganondorf levitates and pushes the last bar on top of the pole. The doctor notes it and replaces the bar with a ladder before Mewtwo's turn. He teleports in front of the highest bar and pushes it. During the other's turn, I faced a dilemma. There are 15 bars. Which one should I push, the 10th, the 7th? Which one did I pushed last year? God damn it, I can't remember! If I want to be realistic, I should hit the same bar I did last year or a little higher. Fox jumps and hit the 9th bar. My turn... I'll hit the 7th. I jump and push the bar and the one below. I was the last to pass.

We're now called for the running test. This is pretty hard to fake. I have to look like I'm running, not jogging, and I have to be slower than I am. There's a little path across the stadium to follow. Ganon levitates and travel the path faster than his running but still slow. Obviously, Mewtwo just teleports at the other side of the path. I'll watch Fox run and I'll run a little faster or slower than him. While my mate prepared himself, I saw Ganondorf talking with Dr. Mario who was looking at me. I don't like this... I did like I saw nothing when Fox started to run.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

He's at the half of the distance.

6, 7, 8, 9.

He finished. I'll go a little faster than him because I jumped lower than him; it's going to be equal. I started running.

1, 2, 3.

I'm half the distance. Crap, I'm too fast...

4, 5, 6.

I'm in trouble. The record (running, not teleporting) is 4 seconds. It means I was fast, a lot faster than I thought.

It's now the shooting test. Ganon shoots a purple ball in the middle of the target and Mewtwo just crushes it. Fox and I hit the middle too with our blasters; we can't fake that, we had a complete training with those guns.

It's now the melee combat test. I can't really fake on this one. They evaluate the quality of the combat style. Usually, I'm just not showing the totality of my moves, only one or two kicks combo. We use a wood mannequin for this one. Ganon tears the head with an elbow blow and Mewtwo crushes the whole wooden body. Fox and I both strike it with kicks combos.

Finally, they call us for the last test, the hiding skills. I don't have to fake to be bad. I can't find any good spot to hide, I mean, I'm blue. Where can I hide? We have 30 seconds to find a spot to hide in some bushes. It's the time it takes to Dr. Mario to see us that counts. If we're not found after 45 seconds, we get out. Ganon has been found after 10 seconds; he's too tall. Mewtwo became invisible so he made it to 45 seconds. Fox has been found after 12 seconds. I hid myself the best I can but I've been found in eight seconds.

We have now an hour left until Dr. Mario name the eight unlucky ones. I say eight because that Mewtwo and Ganon are surely taken again. Happily, Mario seems to have forgotten about Luigi. Good. I don't want to tell him. I walk a little further alone on the edge of the stadium. Fox is talking with others. Fox, why is he called like that anyway? I mean, he is a fox so why call him like that? It's like I was called falcon. Thinking about it, Falco is pretty near of falcon... What the heck am I thinking about? I'm always thinking about stupid things when I'm nervous. Man, I hope Fox isn't chosen. If he is, I don't know what I'll do.

We're all summoned now. I walk next to Fox. Dr, Mario holds a sheet, probably with the names on it. Everyone shut when he start saying the names.

"Ganondorf and Mewtwo"

There's no reaction. Everybody knew it.

"Roy and Kirby"

Wait, Kirby? Roy, I can understand, he's a great fighter, runner and jumper but Kirby? He's so innocent, why him?

"Mario and _the newcomer_"

That'll give me a reason to tell Luigi's death to his brother but who's that _newcomer _anyway? Couldn't they just tell the name?

"Link and Zelda"

Oh... I didn't see that coming for sure. Poor them, I think they were in love... I just hope they survive both.

"Pikachu and..."

I can hear Pichu next to him start to cry very loudly. Dr. Mario stops to wait that Pichu calm down a little. I understand, they were always together not like friends, like brothers, like me and Fox. After he calmed down a little bit, the doctor prepares to say the last name. I close my eyes, preparing myself for the chock of losing Fox.

"Falco Lombardi"

**This chapter was surely short. Beginings are always a pain to write. :)**

**Anyways, review, please**

**If you see a mistake, you can always tell me, I'll correct it as fast as I can. :)**

**See, ya!**


	2. Chapter 2: Day 0

Chapter 2: Day 0

I open my eyes, stunned. Some people were better than me! I mean, Captain Falcon had better results than me. At least, it isn't Fox that has been chosen. It doesn't make a huge difference. Instead of me losing Fox, it's Fox losing me. Dr. Mario continues talking.

"You have 10 minutes for your goodbyes. Meet here."

He goes at the other side of the stadium. I look at Fox who is still staring where the doctor was. He turns to me after a second.

"That's not fair, why does it have to be you?"

I can see he's containing his tears. I put my hands on his shoulders.

"You know Fox, it's okay to cry..."

He let go a sob. I just hug him, it's the best I can do. We stay like that during a pretty long moment. He continues crying. Man, I knew it would be hard to separate if one of us was chosen but I didn't know it would be_ that _hard. We let go of each other when Dr. Mario calls the chosen ones. When I'm about to go, Fox hold my arm.

"Falco, promise me you'll be back."

I don't want to make a promise that I can't keep but I can try.

"I promise."

He let go and I ran to the others. I was the last to arrive there.

"If you want to know your notes and chances of survival, come and see me."

I'm the only one to go.

"You were faking Falco, I can't tell your notes or the survival rate but I guess 7/10."

I'm about to get back when I think of _something_.

"What about that newcomer?"

"He didn't do the tests but I guess 1/10"

I frown.

"That means he would be a kid!"

"He is."

I said nothing. Letting a kid on his own during a whole week... That's cruel. I knew the master hand was cruel but I didn't think he was that much. The doctor led the way out the stadium. I turn and see Fox looking right at me with Pichu weeping in his arms. I turn back and follow the rest of the group. We enter in an enormous place with a lot of training tools.

"You have three hours to train before dinner. See you there."

The doctor gets out while the others choose where they'll train first. I decide to go at the melee combat training area. Once I get there, I start practicing my kicks and punches combos. I practice for real now; there's no point of hiding now. There won't be anymore, even next year. They'll know my forces while watching me so I won't be able to fake anymore. Looks like I'm doomed... I feel like someone is watching me. I turn and see Ganondorf looking at me with an evil grin on his face. I give him a venomous look.

"What are you watching big guy?"

He immediately loses his smile as I take a plastic sword to practice. It shouldn't be so tough but I don't really know what to do with it. I notice Link on the shooting area just next to mine with Zelda. I think he shows her how to use it since she's looking at the way he aims.

"Hey, Link!"

He shoots his arrow that goes at the middle of the target before turning to me.

"Could you come here?"

He says something to Zelda before joining me.

"What is it?"

I point the sword I'm holding.

"Could you teach me how to use it?"

"Yes, but tell me first, how are you using your blaster?"

"You want to learn how?"

"Not really, I'm never using this king of weapon but just tell me."

"Well... I _feel _my target before aiming at it."

He smiles.

"It's the same thing with a sword but instead of pulling the trigger, you swing it. Just try and you'll see."

I look at that wooden model in front of me. I stare at it for maybe five seconds before swinging the sword at it. I hit it pretty strongly every time, just like if I had a lock on it. I stop after a minute or two. I turn to Link.

"So, was it good?"

"Yeah, it was, you understand how it works."

We hear a happy exclamation from the shooting area. It's Zelda who just hit the middle of the target after maybe five tries. He smiles and turns back to me before losing his grin.

"Falco, Ganon is looking at you since the beginning of training. It's kinda creepy."

I take a peek to see that he's actually staring at me again, just like he would try to pierce trough my soul.

"Meh, he's just mad I faced him. He isn't _so_ powerful. When someone challenges him he doesn't seem to know what to do."

"I believe he's trying to find your weaknesses. If you want a tip: try to go on things you're good at. Show him you're stronger than he thinks."

I nod as Link leaves to join Zelda. I change area and go at the climbing area. It's nothing complex; it's a climbing wall with a rock-like texture. I look at it for a second. It's pretty tall but it should be easy to climb. I jump to give me a little head-start since I jump pretty high. I easily find a grip and I start climbing. Geez, that wall isn't tough, there's too much grips. I mean, a real rock wall will have much less places to put feet and hands on. After a moment, I reach the top of the wall. Well, that was easy. I let go and catch one of those grips when I'm a little farther than the middle of the wall. I drop again until I'm on the floor. I turn and see Ganon looking at me again. How long have it been since he's observing me? How is he doing that, anyway? I'm not able to stare at someone more than a bunch of seconds before looking away. I just can't ignore it anymore, it's really annoying! I look at him in the eyes while I walk toward him.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Well, I know that I'll survive this week, so instead I watch the training of the first one to die."

I sigh.

"You mean the second because it's impossible to watch your own training."

He groans loudly and grabs me by my coat again. He just lost control of himself again... I think I found a little weakness here.

"That little eye of yours is tempting to snatch. Maybe I should take it off."

I don't know what happened but he suddenly turns to see Dr. Mario that just crossed the door. He nods at Mewtwo before letting me go.

"Time saved you, birdie but I won't have any pity in the _arena_. I swear you'll call for your friend as soon as I find you."

He then walks toward the doctor with Mewtwo. Suddenly, everybody turns and see Dr. Mario. I'm sure Mewtwo is telepath; that's how they all knew that the doctor was there. I follow them in a pretty big room with a table in the center. There's a plate with some meat and veggies in it. We all sit down. I notice an empty chair between Mewtwo and Roy, probably the _newcomer_'s place. The doctor starts explaining the rules.

"In the _arena_, everything is allowed, even stealing and killing, your only goal is to survive."

I almost jump when I see the kid that is now sitting on the chair. Man, he really looks like Link. I could say that it _is _himbut younger. I turn back my attention on the doctor.

"You'll be allowed to bring one weapon and one object that can help you on surviving. Magic is permitted."

I'll bring my blaster and a bottle, that should be good. I can bet that water will become my new friend. I notice the kid staring shyly at me with his big blue eyes. When I look back at him, he turns his gaze on Dr. Mario. I just do the same.

"At the end of the last day, you'll have to come back by your own. There isn't any rules until you're back. If you find someone death, let the corpse there. The cleaning up team will take care of it."

Oh, yeah, I remember being in that team once. Fox and I found Jigglypuff stabbed with both eyes missing while the eyelids were still open. Ugh... It was so disgusting. I almost threw up. Maybe I did, I don't remember well and I don't think I want to.

"Just for your personal information, the last day is the worst. The week will start at midnight. We'll get you up at 11:30."

He goes at the door and turns to us.

"If you would follow me, I'll show you your rooms."

Everyone stand up and follow the doctor. There is a corridor with ten door each labeled by a number from one to ten.

"Roy, room one. Kirby, room two. Falco, room three."

I quit the group and enter my room. The walls are in a very pale blue colors just like the sky. At the other side of the room, there's a white bed. Every piece of furniture is white; even the soft carpet. I lay on the bed before curling up in the blankets. I look at the clock. It's half past seven. I close my eyes to try to get some sleep. For a pretty long moment, I just lay here thinking about what I'll do in the arena. I should just avoid Ganondorf and Mewtwo at the beginning. Instead, I'll try to find a water spot. Maybe I could help that kid. It couldn't be a so bad idea. I already miss Fox. I think about that time when we were on the Great fox helping the others and I fell out the ship. I landed in a tree. I remember that we had to wait until Marth, that was in the arena, go away. While they are there, the master hand keeps looking at them so it wouldn't notice if it was looking at Marth that was far of us. He went away after an hour or two. Then, Fox threw a rope at me and I climbed all the way up. I remember how we laughed once I was back on the ship. I miss those moments, I already miss home. How surprising it could be, I actually fell asleep.

A loud knock on the door woke me up.

"It's time to go."

Ugh... I think Dr. Mario's voice starts getting on my nerves. I sit in my bed. It's already 11:30. I yawn and stretch before putting my coat on and hanging my blaster on my hip with some ammo. A little chest in the corner of the room gets my attention. I didn't notice it yesterday. I open it to find an empty bottle. I don't know how it got there, but who cares? I fill it with water from the bathroom sink and I get out of my room. At the other side of the corridor, I can see the others. I just join them silently. I notice the tired look in Mario's eyes. He looks like he's going to fall asleep while standing.

"Did you get any sleep?"

"No, I think I was thinking too much about the week."

"It's not your first one, you're experienced."

"I almost died the last time because I was lost, I'm far to be ready to go today."

Once the kid arrives, the doctor leads us to a bigger door. He doesn't open it, tough, he just turns around ask if anyone needs anything. The loss of answer indicates that we're all fine. There's ten minutes left before it starts. I look at everyone. Ganon and Mewtwo are completely neutral, Roy is looking at the ground looking in deep thoughts, Kirby looks like he just finished crying, Pikachu is staring at anything in particular avoiding every look, Mario has the same tired gaze, Zelda is resting on Link's shoulder and the kid seems perfectly awake and alert. Just like he slept but it's been a while he's awake. It doesn't change that it's really easy to say how nervous he is.

"Two minutes left, you should place yourselves."

The doctor opens the door as we all get out on a sand floor. The grass starts one or two meters away like a line. Everybody got the same feeling than me because they all stop in front of the grass. I'm between the kid who closes the line and Ganon who is next to Mewtwo. Link and Zelda are completely at the other side of the line. Guess we'll run into each other then... In front of me, I can only see tall trees and a bit of sky if I look up.

10 seconds left.

9

8

I look at the kid who was watching me and I point the nearest trees with my head.

7

6

He nods. Good, there's no time to explain

5

4

The wall and the door behind us disappears and become a huge clock.  
I take a quick peek. It's written:

11:59  
7 days left

3

I turn back ready to escape from Mewtwo and Ganon with the kid.

2

Ugh... I already hate this place.

1

Let's hope Ganon will miss his next blow because I know where it's going.

**Okay, action will come next. If you see mistakes tell me and I'll correct them. See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3: Day 1

Chapter 3: Day 1

I bend while Ganondorf tries to punch me. I join the kid, who was already running, before taking his arms and wrapping them around my neck. He understands fast and holds his arms together. I've got a bad feeling. I listen to it and jump. Since I'm the lightest person of all, even with the kid on my back, I jump almost as high as the trees that are pretty tall. The boy gasps when we rise to the top of them. I was right to jump; Ganon had thrown one of his purple balls at the place we were. I guess he wants to get rid of me at the beginning. Was it really a good idea to take that kid with me? I just brought him in that mess between Ganondorf and me. If he attacks us, he'll surely hurt him too. Anyway, what is done is done. I guess I'll wait until we run into someone I know and then I'll let the boy with him or her. For sure, I'm not leaving him alone. We land not so far of the clock if I can call it like that. I continue running with the kid on my back. I turn my head to the boy while I'm still running.

"If you see any water spot, tell me."

He nods and I look back in front of me. I have a bottle full but it surely won't last seven days. I could stop but I don't know if Ganon decided to follow me, I have to distance the clock as much as I can just to be sure. I look for water too. The dark isn't helping at all. After what feels like hours, I hear the cute voice of the kid behind me for the first time.

"We should stop; you seem horribly exhausted."

I don't really want to stop but he's right; I'm pretty tired, I just noticed my burning throat. I slow down and stop before the boy get off me. I sit down to catch my breath. He looks around before staring at me.

"We should start a fire before catching up. I'll get some wood."

"Don't go too far."

He smiles at me.

"Don't worry; there are a lot of fallen branches around here."

I've got a little feeling that he's not one of those guys who's looking for trouble. It's better like this because I think we'll have enough with Ganon. I take a look around to see if there isn't any water nearby, apparently not. I take my bottle and drink some water. I stop myself after two or three sips. If we don't find water during the day, I'll be happy to have some in the bottle. I hear footsteps. I take my blaster and point it where the steps come from Still, I don't shoot; maybe it's the boy.

"Calm down, it's only me."

I was right; it was the kid with his hands full of dry wood. He put what he picked in a pile not so far from me before taking a little rock and his sword. He pulls a little red stone out of the sword's pommel and turns it so it faces the wood. He then hit the stone with the little rock. A spark comes out of the red stone. The boy blows on the spark in the wood until it starts burning it, making a quite good fire. He then put the stone back on the sword that he put away.

"How did you do that?"

He looks at me a moment like he doesn't know what I was talking about until he understands.

"Oh, the spark, well, the stone is magical. When it's in contact with another rock it creates a spark. It came with the sword."

I give him a sarcastic grin.

"Isn't it counting like cheating?"

He gives me the same smile.

"They never told us that the weapons couldn't be slightly upgraded."

We chuckle. He stands up before sitting next to me. He shows me his hand.

"It's pretty awkward; you saved my life and I didn't even say my name. It's Young Link."

I shake his hand gently.

"I'm Falco."

He closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the fire in front of us before opening them again.

"You're better than you were in the tests."

I frown.

"You were there?"

"No, but I was in Dr. Mario's desk where I could see everything."

I sigh.

"Well, I was faking because this week didn't interest me... What about you, how did you ended up here?"

"Well, Dr. Mario said that the newcomers were always included without tests."

"It's false; normally they were doing them too."

He looks away for some seconds before staring shyly at the grass under him.

"Anyway, thanks again for saving my life... Um... Excuse my curiosity but why did you help me?"

"Well, when I learned I was chosen, I asked my survival rate to see if I had any chances of getting out alive. After he told it to me, I asked yours. He said it was 1/10. I didn't want you to die; I don't want anyone to die here."

We stayed silent for a moment. I hope he's not mad because I helped him because of his survival rate. I look at him. He doesn't seem to be mad at all, he seems to be in deep thoughts with his eyes closed and his serious look. He opens his eyes and look at me for a second. He's not crying or anything, he's perfectly neutral.

"Thinking about it, he's right."

He sighs.

"I won't last two days here..."

I wrap my arm around his shoulders.

"No, you'll last a lot more... I promise you'll be back with me at the end of this week."

He smiles. We stay silent for a moment. I hope I can keep this promise, just like the one I made for Fox. I'll do my best.

"You should get some sleep."

He turns to me and frowns.

"You say that _I_ should sleep? You've ran for more than five kilometers! _You_ should get some rest."

He makes me think of myself a little. I remember one day when Fox and I had a rough fight against someone I can't remember right now. We had an ointment and Fox wanted me to use it even if he was injured a lot more badly. I remember my exact words that day.

"You say _I_ should use it? You're bleeding like a fountain! _You_, use it!"

I remember that he chuckled.

"Alright Falco, but you'll be the first one to get cured in the infirmary."

"Deal."

The funny thing is that I wasn't the first cured at all. Even with the ointment, his injuries were worse than mine. I just feel like Fox did right now, pretty funny. I smile at my new partner and lie down.

"Okay, you win this time but if you feel tired, wake me up."

"Count on me."

I close my eyes and after a moment, I fall asleep.

I wake up. The sky is clear blue. For me, it always meant a great day... Wait a minute, it's _blue_? I sit up. How long did I slept? Happily, Young Link is still there, perfectly awake and alert. How could he last all night? He smiles at me when we see each other.

"Good morning, Falco."

" 'Morning... You didn't wake me up?"

"Meh, I wasn't tired. I feel like I could run for a whole day..."

We hear a crack. Young Link quietly takes his sword out. He swings it and throws it at the rabbit's head that just passed. He stands up and takes the animal's corpse before dropping it with another one that I didn't notice before now. He sits back down next to the fire that is exactly like yesterday.

"We should eat before looking for water. Uh... I hope it's not cannibalism for you."

I frown and he looks away.

"I mean, you're kind of an animal and a rabbit is an animal..."

I chuckle.

"No, it isn't cannibalism. Those kinds of rabbits are different than us; they aren't as evolved as us. Anyway, it's maybe one of the only things I'll be able to eat so I shouldn't complain."

He smiles at me before taking one of the rabbits and taking off its skin. I'm still wondering how he passed the night without sleeping. Hmm, he's awakened and alert without any rest, he feels like he can run during hours, he has almost too much reflexes...

"Young Link, did you eat something weird before entering here?"

"Well, Dr. Mario gave me some red and green pills yesterday but that's all."

Man, the doctor just drugged a kid! It's those drugs that nobody uses until an emergency. Maybe he wanted to help him but still, if I wanted to help someone I wouldn't give drugs! That's not the worst, it also means that when the effect will be finished, he'll fall asleep for at least five hours and he'll sleep thought _anything_, even the greatest pain.

"When did he give it to you?"

"Just after dinner, why?"

"Nothing."

Yeah, it means that around half past seven, he'll fall asleep. I'll have to watch his back this evening. Guess I'll have a sleepless night. Once he finished cooking the rabbit, he gives the whole animal to me. I look at him. He's not taking off the other one's fur.

"You're not eating?"

He shakes his head.

"I'm not hungry."

It's another effect of that drug. If he doesn't eat, he'll complain he's tired _and_ hungry after the principal effect passed.

"You'll be in a few hours if you don't eat."

I show him the animal.

"Here, take what you need."

He takes a little part of the rabbit, enough for a child of his age.

"Alright, you win this time."

We start eating silently. Pretty funny, he just said the same words than me during the night when he convinced me to go asleep. Maybe he said it because I said it. I wonder if it's a good thing that he stays with me. When we finish eating, we put out the fire and start walking to look for water.

We walked for a great part of the afternoon without finding any animals, not even those rabbits. The worse is that our bottles are both empty. Yeah, Young Link thought about bringing a bottle too. My partner stretches and yawns when the sun finishes setting.

"Maybe we took the wrong way..."

"Yeah, those rabbits were certainly drinking somewhere."

Anyway, it's too late to turn back now. I'll have to make sure my partner is always next to me because he could fall asleep even while he's walking. I can easily see that he's forcing himself to stay awake and keep walking. I look in front of me and I smile when I see what looks like a lake. I point it at my half-sleeping friend before we walk there. As we arrive at the edge of the trees, I see a little campfire. The man sitting next to it is alone. I put my arm in front of the kid that was about to go drink some water. I know this tall and unpleasant shadow; it's Ganondorf's one. Ugh... In all the water spots in this place did he really have to settle on 'this' one? In all the people I knew it really needed to be 'him'? I definitely don't want to fight him now. At least, not with a tired child next to me. I press my arm on his chest a little.

"Back off."

Well, I don't think he's hearing me; his eyes are almost closed and he's kind of limping. Just a second after, he falls in my arms, apparently sleeping. I'm pretty surprised he resisted to sleep 'that' long. It's been almost 26 hours that he didn't get any sleep. I put him on my shoulder and back off. Still, I won't leave that water spot until our bottles are full so I make a curve using the trees as a cover. Once I'm completely on the other side of his camp, I lay the kid on the grass and take both of our bottles. I approach silently of the lake. This is my chance; I'm facing Ganon's back. I kneel and start filling the bottles. I take a peek at him. I could shoot him. Dying by a shot in the back, he deserves it. No, he deserves more; he should be tortured until he collapses... What the hell am I thinking about? Fox and I always shot straight, we were never torturing anyone; we're not cruel. Once both of the bottles are full, I see some movement from Ganondorf's camp. I run away while closing the bottles. I let go the idea of the shot. I'll probably have another moment to do it anyway. Hidden by the trees, I put Young Link on my shoulder. That's exactly when I have a bad feeling. I start running and stop after some seconds to look behind me. I was right to run; all the trees where I was seconds ago are torn and burned. I don't know what happened, but I'm happy I ran. I hurry out of Ganon's range before walking while taking some dry wood.

It's really late when I finally decide to stop. I put the kid near a tree next to me and take his sword. I easily find the red gem on it. I see a blue one on the other side of the weapon. Maybe it creates some ice; it would be logical. I'll ask him tomorrow. I take a leather bag on my partner's hip. I think he let the rock there after our first fire. Yep, it's here. I take it and mimic the movement of my friend that creates a spark. A good fire grows as I sigh in relief; it's pretty cold here. The moon is fully raised in the sky. I can't help but wonder... How's Fox up there? Is he dropping supplies to other smashers like we used to? I hope he isn't concentrating on finding me. Don't try; just let it happen, like you used to say, Fox. I sigh. I really miss the sky. I smile by the thought of being back. Yeah, I'll keep both of my promises. I close my eyes and imagine myself back on the Great Fox during those nights I wasn't able to sleep and that I was going on the roof of the ship to watch the stars. Fox was always joining me during those nights because he couldn't sleep too. It was pretty funny; when one of us was awaken, the other was surely awake too like if we were linked to each other or something. On those nights, we were just laying on one of the ship's wing and looking at the stars in silence. I miss those moments where I felt always good, that I had that feeling.

The feeling of _home_.

**So there's the first day. Pretty smooth one. ;) As always, tell me if you see mistakes.**

**And thanks to KoopalingFan who gave me even more courage to write this chapter :)**

**See ya!**


	4. Chapter 4: Day 2

Chapter 4: Day 2

I stayed silent in front of the fire for hours. It was pretty quiet here and I was thankful that nothing showed up; I didn't feel like fighting right now. The sky became orange as the sun started to rise. I heard some mumbling from the kid before he opened his eyes. He sat up and stretched.

"Ugh... How long did I sleep?"

"Around eight hours I guess."

He stares at me with a concern look.

"Did you sleep?"

"Of course not."

"Well go on, I'll guard. We'll check for water later."

I lay down ready to rest and I close my eyes. Before sleeping, I turn to my partner.

"By the way, we found water yesterday."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, there was a campfire and pointed it. Don't you remember?"

"Not a thing."

I smile and close my eyes. I fall asleep immediately.

I wake up while facing a dark grey sky. Ugh... I hate those. I sit up and see Young Link backing me that seems highly concentrated on something. I stand up and stretch before sitting next to him. He notices me when I sit.

"Hey, Falc' "

"'morning, what'cha doing?"

"I try to make a bow; it'll be better for hunting."

He pulls a wire from his sleeve and ties it to the wood stick. I notice there isn't anything looking like arrows.

"Have you made arrows yet?"

"No, not yet."

He chuckles.

"I've had too much difficulty with the bow."

I stand up.

"Do you need something special for the arrows? I'll get it for you."

He turns to me.

"Thanks, I need sticks and little rocks."

I nod and start walking to look for arrow-sized sticks before Young Link shouts something at me.

"Don't go too far!"

Heh, he just said what I said last night. Is he memorizing what I say or something? I turn to him.

"Don't worry; there are a lot of fallen branches around here!"

We smirk. I definitely like that kid. I turn back and look for wooden sticks. They are pretty easy to find; I've got 15 of them in 20 minutes. The rocks aren't as easy though; I've got only five. After half-an-hour, I finally have them all and I head back to the camp. During the way, I run into my partner. He sighs in relief when he sees me.

"I was worried. I thought you were lost or something."

I can't help but chuckle. The kid gives me a friendly punch.

"What's funny? I really was worried."

We arrive at the camp after a bit of walking. His bow looks pretty cool now that he arranged it. We sit and start arranging the arrows. It took some hours but it's worth the time. As I give him the last arrow, a funny thought passes in my mind.

"You know what would be cool? That the arrows could catch in fire."

He looks at me for some seconds without any reactions. Then his eyes open big.

"Falco, you're a genius!"

I look at him. What did he think about? He removes the red stone from his sword and installs it on the bow. I still don't understand. That's when he takes one of our arrows and that aims at a tree without shooting. The stone creates a spark and the arrow catches fire. He smiles at me before putting out the fire from the arrow and put it with the others. I smirk.

"That's cool."

That's when I remember about the blue stone.

"Oh, uh, what's the blue gem for?"

"It makes some ice."

"Heh, I knew it..."

An idea crosses my mind.

"Did you ever tried to hold the two of them together?"

"Never... Now that I think about it, I want to try..."

We smile while I take the blue stone and he takes the red one.

"I just hope it won't blow up."

We look at each other and giggle. It would be ridiculous. We turn back serious and nod at each other when we make contacts with the two stones. It then creates... Water. We stare at each other for a pretty long time before we start laughing. We just passed the whole day looking for water when we had an infinite water source _on_ us. It's when we stop laughing that we realize how hungry we are.

"Alright, let's eat the remaining rabbit before testing my bow."

Just like yesterday, he uses his sword to take out the last rabbit skin. Once he's done, he cooks it and we eat it together in silence until my partner speaks up.

"I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble with that drug."

I smile.

"Nah, the night was pretty calm."

"Good..."

He seems, disturbed.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Well, Dr. Mario gave me a bag full of those pills. I was wondering if I should throw it away."

"Maybe you could keep it for emergencies just promise you won't drug me for no reason."

He smirks.

"Alright, I promise."

We finish eating in silence before standing up to go hunt whatever we could find. I see a not-so-tall tree. I grab the kid and jump so we land on a branch.

"I'll go down."

I jump in some bushes. If he misses, I'll shoot. We stay silent in this position for hours. The worse is that I have a very bad position so my legs hurt a lot but don't move; what if an animal showed up at the moment? Yeah, it's been hours that I'm telling that to myself but who cares? I suddenly feel some fur on my left hand's feathers. I turn to see a sitting hare. How come he didn't run away when he saw me? Oh, let me guess; since I didn't move, he decided that I was part of the bushes. I slowly point my blaster at his head but he doesn't seem to notice it. I pull the trigger and it falls apparently dead. I take it and finally stand up in relief; that position is much better.

"Hey."

Young Link turns to me and I show him the animal I just hunted down. He smiles and gives me a thumb up. He both jumped when we heard thunder. Great, just great! Thanks master hand... It's only the second day and the hand already gives us a storm. Normally the bad temperature is at the last day. What will he do, a blizzard? Seriously, I'm far to be exited for the last day except the fact that it means that I'll go home later.

We hear some noise in the bushes in front of me. My partner shoots a flaming arrow and the noise just before a purple ball hit my right leg. I fall back in the bushes holding my leg groaning because of the pain. A blast looks like a soft cuddle compared to what I feel at the moment. The kid finds me in the bushes and put my left arm around his shoulder before standing up.

"We have to go, Falco, it's Ganon."

I wish I could go but when I try to stand on my leg, it just becomes painful again. I groan loudly.

"Leave me here; he's after _me_!"

He carries me from a purple ball and tries his best to get away even if Ganon is a lot faster than him.

"If you think I will, you're wrong. Just swallow this."

I don't even look at what he's giving to me; I just listen and swallow it. I open my eyes. I've got a sudden energy boost. Besides, my leg doesn't hurt anymore. I quickly take my blaster and shoot at Ganon's arm, right next to an arrow.

"C'mon, it may be the only opportunity to get away!"

We both run as fast as we can through the trees while dodging the purple shots that Ganondorf keeps shooting at us. I slow down a bit when I see that the kid has some difficulties to keep up. Once I'm just in front of him, I show him my arms by my back. Please, understand that. You're smart enough, I know it.

Happily, he does. He jumps on my back and put his hands together around my neck. I continue running as far as I can. Young Link gets out a loud groan. I slightly turn my head.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think."

He's definitely not. I'll stop as soon as I can.

"Do you see Ganon anywhere?"

I wait a little moment before he answers me.

"I don't see him."

Me neither. I slow down before stopping. My partner gets off my back and kneels down. I do the same.

"Where does it hurts?"

"I don't thinks it's the time for this we're not safe enough for now."

"You'll probably feel safe tomorrow and I'm certainly not waiting 'that' long."

He sighs.

"It hurts in the back."

"Upper or lower?"

"Both."

"Does it hurt if I touch here?"

I go behind him and press gently a random place in the middle of his back. He groans loudly and I remove my hand quickly.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Can I take a peek?"

"Of cour– Falco!"

A thunderstruck hits a tree that catches fire and falls between us and Ganondorf.

"You want fire? Well you'll get some."

Fire came out of the Gerudo's hands. We quickly decide to take advantage of his anger and get away from here. We run as fast as we can. If we keep this rhythm for around five minutes we'll surely lose him behind us. I hope he's too much concentrated on making everything catch in fire to see that we ran away.

Young Link suddenly pushes me on the left. I was so much thinking about Ganon that I didn't see the thunderstruck touch the tree that fell just in front me. If my partner didn't push me, I would be dead by now. I put my arm in front of me just in time to protect myself from the burned wood shards. The kid wasn't as lucky, he screams when some land on his face. I quickly take them away but the right side of his face is already burnt badly. We stand up, aware of the burning forest ready to run again when somebody punches me in the back. I fall right on the tree and get away as soon as I feel the heat on my chest. Happily, none of my clothes started to burn. I turn and assist my partner that was attacking Ganondorf. The Gerudo punches us both in the face and we fall in the dirt before standing up and come back by the offensive. While the kid distracts him by the front, I attack him by the back. When the Gerudo punches him away, he changes tactics and shoots some arrows at his back while he's concentrated on me. I kick him in the stomach and he flinches. I take that moment to point at myself as the kid looks at me. I have a plan, I just want him to shoot at me and I take care of the rest. He nods and prepares his fifth arrow. Ganon comes back to strike on me. Young Link shoots at me and I use what I call _phantasm_. It's a technique that uses speed. I just run at such incredible speed that nobody sees me and I punch Ganondorf at the same time. When it's possible to see me again, I'm right behind Ganon that just received my partner's flaming arrow in the back. The Gerudo charges at my friend in anger but I surely won't let him do this; I take out my blaster and shoot at him. He receives the bolt right in his shoulder but he keeps running toward the boy while shooting a purple ball that I dodge. When I shoot back at him, he uses my partner as a shield that receives the blast right in his throat! He coughs some blood and loses consciousness before Ganon drops him in the dirt. I can feel myself steaming; I'll use that technique that I learned just before that this week even existed, _Flaming bird_. Fire comes around me as I lock my mind on Ganon. He'll definitely pay for this and that satisfied smile of his. Since the forest around us is in fire, the Gerudo doesn't notice the flames around me; I'm sure he's thinking that I'm only angry at him and that I don't know what to do. I finally bounce toward him with fire enveloping me. My attack hits him right in the chest as he goes flying a good distance away.

I think he won't get up before a great amount of time. I rush to my partner that didn't move a bit. I quickly verify his vital signs. He's alive. I take him on my shoulder and start running; I just want to get as far as possible from that forest fire. I run for several minutes and the heat is seriously unbearable. I think I see the edge of the fire, there's a river too! I smile at the idea to get out of that heat. An enormous tree branch falls in front of me. A fire lights up on my coat. Without even thinking, I jump over the branch and run toward the river with the pain of my burning feathers. I bounce in the river to put off the fire on my arm. I sigh in relief. I notice blood pouring on my left shoulder. I was so disturbed by my arm that I almost forgot Young Link on my shoulder. I put him down and take off my scarf to tie it on his neck but not too tight just to be sure that I don't struggle him. I lie him down next to the river while I take some fallen branches that are in fire and throw them on the sand at the other side of the river. Once I've finished that improvised campfire, I take my partner with me and cross the cold water. I sit and verify again his vital signs and I'm relieved to see he's still alive, but for how long? A blast in the neck can be mortal if it's not healed quickly.

"Please, don't die."

I just catch myself saying these words and hugging my partner but I'm not really worried about how stupid I may look right now. I just want him to stay alive. He's so young and innocent. Why did I shoot? Normally, I always aim before shooting but this time, I didn't. Why, I don't know, maybe there's a god somewhere that hates me or something. I hear a thud. Not like a body falling, but more like an object. It's near me. I take out my blaster and lay my partner before walking at the origin of the noise. After seconds of walking, I accidentally kick a container. It's surely what I heard before. I take it and stare at it for a moment before looking at the sky. I see a black silhouette that I perfectly know; it's the Great Fox. I smile and get back to my fire. I open the container to find a slimy substance. I put some on my fingers before recognizing it. It's some after-burns substance like I call it. It heal burns faster and makes it painless. I immediately put some on the kid's face.

"Thanks Fox."

I can't help but smile and thank Fox a billion times. This is definitely the thing we need most. I remember about my friend's back, I didn't have the time to look at it. I move the top of his tunic to see how awful it looks. It looks like it burned for hours before having a lot of boiled water on it. I put some of the ointment on his back; maybe it'll help. After putting the ointment, I remember the bad burn on my arm and put the substance on it. After that, I look at my leg; something tells me that it looks like my partner's back. I find out I'm right when I pull up the bottom of my pants. I put some ointment on it before closing the container and putting it down just next to me. I take the kid and hold him in my arms in silence to warm him up; his skin is so cold that I could say it's a corpse's one. I verify his vital signs again to see he's still alive. I look at his neck, I think it stopped bleeding. Good, a problem is solved, I surely won't complain. I can't help but wonder, how come I'm not tired and my burns and my legs doesn't hurt? I mean, my leg was hurting so much and then I ate whatever the kid gave me and it didn't hurt anymore and I had a boost of energy. Wait, I know those effects, would he... No, he could not do that to me, he promised. It's probably a coincidence that I'm not tired. He probably gave me painkillers or something and I had some energy left that would explain the boost.

He surely didn't drug me.

**So here is chapter four. Review please, it may sound idiotic but it helps a lot! See ya in chapter 5!**


	5. Chapter 5: Day 3

Chapter 5: Day 3

I sat in this position for hours verifying my partner's vital signs regularly. I wasn't even tired when the sun appeared in the sky. That's when it does that I hear some footsteps. I won't take the risk to run into Ganon or Mewtwo so I quickly put the ointment next to my blaster and take the kid on my shoulder and get away from the remaining ashes. I walk for hours in the woods. I could easily run but I don't want to be heard by anyone. I finally decide to stop when I arrive at a pretty big lake. I lay the kid on the soft grass before sitting down. I take my boots off and put my feet in the cold water. I remove them quickly. I feel weird, like if something was not right. I shake my head and put back my boots. Why do I feel weird? It's only water isn't it? Maybe it's because it's an area that has just been added this year, yes it's surely this.

"Falco!"

I turn quickly toward Young Link that is still unconscious. Of course it wasn't him because I heard Luigi's voice, not his but I still wanted to be sure... Great, I'm hearing things now.

"Help!"

Now Jigglypuff. I'm surely becoming crazy like that poor Ness. He completely lost his mind on the last day. I remember how sorry I was for him. He was shaking and talking to himself about the way he could commit suicide and screaming to the smashers _he _could see but that weren't there. He stayed like this for another day until the clean up team found him and brought him back just before he would make himself drown to death. Even after a whole year he's still doing psychiatric treatments. I hate to say that but I think he's doomed. We tried everything. Every smasher came in his room to talk to him and tried to make him remember of his past and his _true_ identity. I remember entering the room where he was held. I remember that he was completely neutral when he looked at me. He was even asking to himself out loud if I wasn't going to kill him. That's the moment I decided to get out of this room but just as I stood up, he jumped on me and tried to rip off my feathers with his hands and even his teeth. It's only days later that Dr. Mario decided to make his mom come from their dimension. When she tried to talk to him or approach him, he just screamed at her to let him alone. That's when I sensed the Ness I knew was gone. Even his mother couldn't bring him back. He's still in special treatments. The only good thing in this is that he'll never make that week again.

I take out my blaster as the voices come back. I know there isn't anybody here but I can't help but look around me each time I hear a smasher's voice. If someone is hiding in the trees, he would surely laugh by the sight of me looking for invisible people. I feel something grab my shoulder. I jump and quickly turn before shooting a bolt that cut a golden lock from Young Link's hair. I drop my gun and put my hand on his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it!"

"It's okay."

I sigh I relief.

"Does your neck hurt?"

"Huh, no, why?"

He puts his left hand on his neck and touches my scarf that is on it.

"Oh yeah, I remember now... Thank you."

"Thanks for what?"

He smirks.

"For not letting me behind, you silly!"

I sigh.

"It was the least I could do after what I did to you..."

He puts and hand on my shoulder and smiles gently.

"It's okay, Falco."

I frown.

"It's _not_ okay, I almost killed you twice!"

"Am I dead right now?"

"No."

"So everything's alright. Besides, if it wasn't of me, that bolt would have certainly killed Ganon."

He turns away and stares at the lake for a moment.

"I saw this lake before but I can't remember where."

Where could he see it? It's new from this year, maybe he confuses it with another one or a lake where he lives or... What's in the water anyway? It wasn't there a minute ago. I think it even makes bubbles... The both of us are now interested in a new mass in the water but two different one. The one in front of me looks drowning like if something was keeping him down. I think it's a vulpine or- No...

"FOX!"

My partner and I both dive in the water. Young Link swims at someone else, Nalun or something if he screamed the right thing when we yelled names at the same time while I continue swimming at Fox. How did he get here? Did the Master hand found out that he dropped the ointment and decided to punish him by drowning him? That's insane! I finally reach the vulpine's arm. He grabs me tight and pushes a shriek that paralyses me as his emerald eyes turn to black holes. I try to get away but he has a strong grip.I can't breathe... Talk about a bad death, being drowned by an illusion. I wish I was back in my airwing with the Starfox team next to the good-old Peppy telling me to do a freaking barrel roll... Wait a minute... A barrel roll! That's it! I close my eyes and start spinning in the water until the false Fox let me go. I swim quickly at the surface and dive again to help my friend trapped by the girl. I wish I could shoot her with my blaster but I dropped it not so long ago. I kick her in the face multiple times and she finally let go. We reach the surface and breathe some air.  
I turn to get back on the grass but there's nothing else than that ocean of blood where we swim.

"I know where I saw it, in Dr. Mario's desk. He called it the cursed waters."

I think I don't need an explanation to understand the name. It's good that he remembers, even if it's a little late but the question now is: how the hell will we get out of here? I feel _something_ grab my ankle and I gasp before entering in the lake. I try to see what grabbed me but the only thing I can see is red and the bubbles I make. I see a bright light for a second and I'm able to move at my own will again. I reach the surface and quickly move to the ground that reappeared with my partner. When we lay on the soft grass, we both let go a sigh of relief. We promise ourselves to never cross that lake again before laying there during a long moment in silence. We both sit up at the same time. I take back my blaster and put it next to the ointment. Young Link verifies if all of his things are still there before putting away his sword that he was holding tightly not so long ago. Now that I think about it, it's surely the blade mirroring the sun's light that blinded me a little in the water.

"Did you cut that nasty thing that was grabbing me?"

"Yeah, thanks to my sword."

I chuckle.

"I would say more thanks to _you_."

He smiles.

"Heh, you saved me too, from that false girl."

"Yeah, who was she anyway?"

I can easily see him blushing. Ooh, I think I know...

"Her name is Malon. It's a girl I know back home and..."

He pauses and passes his hand behind his neck while I smirk.

"You kinda like her?"

"Heh, yeah, I was planning going back to her after the week, when I was allowed to... I bet it was your friend in the water."

"You got it right."

We both stare at the deadly lake for a moment before standing up to get away. We start walking towards the woods to go as far as possible from those waters. We walk in silence for a while until I speak up.

"Did you see that _thing_ that grabbed me?"

"Not for a long time but I saw it."

"Was it Fox or Malon?"

"No..."

"What was it, then?"

"Imagine the ugliest thing you've ever seen."

"Andross, that bastard."

"Well, the thing that grabbed you was a hundredth time worse."

"Eww..."

He smirks.

"You said it!"

Thinking about it, I'm happy that I didn't see it. I close my eyes and I feel my head fall on my chest. I open them. Whoa... Did I... Almost fell asleep? It's the middle of afternoon, how comes I fall asleep? Oh yeah, that sleepless night. That's not all, I'm already exhausted by a minute of walking and I'm pretty hungry... Okay, now, I have to be sure about it. I turn to my partner.

"Did you drug me?"

"What?"

"Did you drug me yesterday?"

He sighs.

"Yes I did, but it was the only way. I wouldn't have let you behind for sure and I couldn't carry you. Besides if you don't remember there was Ganondorf behind us."

I'm about to talk when he interrupts me.

"Yeah, I know, I promised to not drug you but I also said I wouldn't _when there are no apparent reasons_ and I seriously think it was a good cause."

I open my mouth but I don't say anything because he's right. I hate to admit it but there's nothing I can say because there's nothing to say anyway. So I just shut up and continue walking and keep my eyes open. I almost fall asleep pretty often but I'm still awake and that's good.

When I take another step, I fall on the ground with my face right in the dirt. I'd like to get up, but I can't even open my eyes. I can hear my partner next to me.

"Falco! Are you okay?"

I mumble something and fall asleep.

When I wake up, the sky is dark. I say dark because the full moon makes a lot of light and there are a lot of stars. Even with all the night I've been watching them, I think they're beautiful. I sit up to find Young Link smiling at me in front of the fire. I jump and he chuckles.

"Had a good nap?"

"Yep, I bet it was a long one."

"It was; eight hours, not bad."

I smirk.

"Guess it's your turn, now."

"You got it."

He comes and sit next t me when he loses his smile.

"Were you mad at me yesterday? I mean with the drug story..."

I smile.

"Nah."

"I mean, you were silent and all so..."

"I just didn't have anything to say anyway."

"Oh, I see, because you actually _can_ shut up."

We laugh for a bit and my partner gets his smile back.

"Good night, Falco."

"'night."

I stay surprised for a second when the kid leans against my chest before closing his eyes. I smile and wrap my arms around him.


	6. Chapter 6: Day 4

**Chapter 6: Day 4**

I silently take out my blaster and keep it ready. I stay in this position for a pretty long moment and lower my gun. I hear a crack, no, a lot of cracks, all around us. I shake Young Link.

"Hey, wake up!"

He opens his eyes and sits up. He opens his mouth to talk but I put my finger on it before he can say a word. The cracks come back before he looks at me with a worried look. He quietly takes his sword out. I turn so we're back to back. We stay in this position for minutes but nothing moved. I hear a weird sound.

"DUCK!"

At the exact moment we lie down, two sticky looking things glue to each other. We both roll on the left to see the things that attacked us. A bunch of eight spider-looking things approaches us forming a circle. My partner slightly turns his head towards me.

"Are we going to fight them?"

I've got to think fast. We're outnumbered but it shouldn't be too hard to kill one of those monsters. What if they are tough to kill? Better do a safer way.

"No, listen, when I tell you, you run on your left and swing your sword if one of those is one your way."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry, I'll follow you."

He nods and turns back in front of him. I hear the weird noise again.

"NOW!"

We both jump on the left. The sticky thing is thrown towards my face. By reflex, I shoot with my gun at it and happily the thing falls so I can continue following my partner, unharmed. We run for a moment before Young Link falls and drops his sword. He backs a tree to try to remove a gray thing stuck on his face. I approach quickly to see that the sticky thing solidified on his face and it covered his nose and his mouth! He tries to take it off but hands won't help. Crap, he starts panicking. I can't shoot because I would surely hurt him badly. If only I saw that before... The sword gives me an idea. Surely not the best, but we don't have time to think. I take it and put the blade between the gray thing and his cheek.

"This will hurt a little, okay?"

He nods weakly and I start moving the sword back and forth. It takes a moment but I finally cut it. I throw the thing away and take my unconscious but still alive partner. He has now a bad cut on the cheek, but I think it's better than death. I just put his sword back in the scabbard that I hear the cracks from those spiders. I jump in the tree and aim at those creatures. Once I see the first of them, I shoot at it and it falls, surely dead.

Looks like they didn't like it.

The seven remaining, no six because I shot down another, starts going faster towards the tree and starts climbing in it. I jump on the highest branch and look around quickly. I think I see a glade not so far. If I jump trees-to-trees I should arrive there fast. I'm about to jump when I feel a sore pain on my leg. I look down to see that one of the creatures stabbed me there. I concentrate back on my destination and I jump above a bunch of trees to land on a thick branch. I'm about to jump again when my partner opens his eyes. I let him stand on the branch.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just blacked out a little... What happened to you arm?"

I look down to my right forearm. I didn't even notice that I had some solidified gray thing on it.

"I didn't even notice it. I guess one of those things threw it at me while I was jumping."

"You want to remove it?"

"Nah, it makes a sort of _armour_."

He smirks before I point my back. He climbs on it and I jump above another bunch of trees. We land on some grass and decide to do the rest by feet, the spiders are probably really far now anyway. My partner gets off my back before we start walking.

"Are you sure you want to keep this? I mean, I believe it's solid but it still comes from those _things_."

"Don't worry, I'm sure it was something to catch us or make us stop moving."

He sighs.

"I guess you're right I'm probably paranoid."

I was about to say something when we arrived in the glade. It's familiar. I look to my left and recognize the _clock._

3:52

4 days left

Young Link noticed it too.

"Is it where we began?"

"Exactly."

"Does it mean we did a big circle or something?"

"I dunno, maybe we went in the opposite way since the fire or somewhere else."

We stay silent for a moment before he speaks up.

"What do we do now; do we settle down here or just go and... forget about it?"

"We could settle down a bit so you can get some sleep. I mean, you didn't sleep a lot with the _spider _problem maybe an hour."

He passes his hand behind his neck and closes his eyes.

"Yeah, you're right; I'd like to sleep a little"

I nod and start walking toward the forest. The kid opens his eyes and look at me for a second.

"Where are you going?"

"Run a marathon... Nah, getting some wood."

"Do we really need some? I mean, we're staying only for a couple of hours and the sun will rise soon."

I turn back and walk towards him.

"Yeah, you're right."

We sit just in front of the wall before the kid leans his head on my shoulder. I'm about to say goodnight when I notice he's already sleeping. Heh, _that's _what I call someone tired.

Happily, nothing happened during the time we were there. The spiders surely gave up. Good, I don't want to see them anymore. It's a comfortable temperature here. I mean, in the other places we slept the fire was really useful but here we don't really _need _it. It's probably because the center is right behind us.

It's been a while since the sun finished rising. It's going to be easier to walk now. I just notice how hungry I am. I'll take that hare I hunted down. Hey, where is it? Oh, right, I probably dropped it when Ganondorf hit me with that ball of his. Oh well, I guess we'll hunt later then. I turn and see my partner waking up. He stands up and stretches. It's when he turns back to me that I decide to speak up.

"We'll have to hunt, we don't have anything left."

"Not even that hare?"

I sigh.

"No, I dropped it when we were attacked by Ganon."

"Oh, I see... Okay then, it's when you're ready."

I stand up and take out my gun.

"I'm ready."

He smiles and takes out his bow and an arrow. We walk toward the forest. We do the same strategy than the last time; he's up in a tree and I'm next but this time, I've got a way better position. The sun just finished setting when a fox shows up. My partner's arrow gets right in the animal's abdomen. I get out of the bushes and my partner jumps off his tree. He takes back his arrow and smiles.

"What's so fun?"

"Since my arrow was in fire, a good part of the meat is already cooked."

I look at it and he's right; I could almost hear it say _eat me! I'm perfect!_"

Young Link takes off the animal's skin and we eat in a not-so-awkward silence. Once we're done, we hear a scream, Roy's scream to be exact. Without even consulting each other, we get up and run toward the scream's origin. After a moment of running, we arrive at another glade but much smaller where we can see Mewtwo with Roy that is staring blankly in front of himself. I take my blaster and shoot at the Pokemon that put his hand in front of the bolt that stops and go back at me. I put my arm covered in the gray thing so the bolt is blocked. Mewtwo then looks at us and teleport away. How come he didn't fight us? I'll think about it later. We run toward Roy that fall on his knees and then on the grass still with a blank look and blood coming out of his mouth. We kneel down and check for vital signs.

But we rapidly find out that he's dead.

**It's gonna take a while before the next chapter is published 14 days. Review**


	7. Chapter 7: Day 5

**Chapter 7: Day 5**

The sleeping kid leaning on my chest, I stare blankly at the fire. Since we found out that Roy had died, we didn't spoke a word. I see myself again closing his eyes and leaning him on a nearby tree. We stood up and walked away. None of us were crying it's pretty obvious for Young Link; he didn't know him, no one cries for somebody they never knew. As for me, I just kept my feelings inside. Some people that doesn't know me much, like Peach or Yoshi, says I'm heartless, that I don't have feelings at all but I'm just hiding them, I've trained myself to do that since my childhood when I was bullied. None was interested in intimidating me when I wasn't reacting anymore. Sure, I don't like when people say I'm heartless but I just get over it. I remember a day when we were going in our room to go sleep maybe a week after an old friend, Bill Grey to be exact, funerals after falling in battle, that Fox got annoyed about it.

"Aren't you tired to be called _heartless_?"

I just giggled.

"Heartless? I thought I was called _feeling lacker_."

He didn't laugh or even smile. It was certainly pissing him off.

"It isn't funny Falco; I heard it three times today."

"Oh, three? I heard it five times at the last week's tests."

"That's why I wonder how come you never got mad about it."

"I do get mad Fox but I keep calm."

"That's why they say you don't have feelings, you know."

I sighed.

"Isn't it supposed to be a quality to stay calm?"

"Yeah, but I think you're abusing of it."

"Fox, I know what I'm doing."

"Well, you don't seem to, Falco."

And then he walked away. I didn't think about that conversation until now. I understand those who say I was heartless; I never cried for anyone, I didn't cry even for my own mother's death. I kept my feelings inside like each time even if I had a ball-thing in my throat unlike usually because normally I push it aside easily. I keep wondering if someday all those feelings I kept inside will suddenly get out in one-shot. A fall of tears, an explosion of anger or a scream of fear, I wonder if it would happen. Heh, it would be funny, well not for me but...

I jump when my partner wakes up and screams. I sit up next to him.  
He stops screaming and looks in front of him panting. I gently put my hand on his shoulder

"It's okay, it was only a nightmare."

I notice his left hand squeezing his chest, just where his heart is. I gently take his wrist and put it down. He closes his eyes before opening them and looking at me.

"We were three; you, your friend and me."

"Fox?"

He nods.

"As I could understand, we were at war against the master hand. Fox had a bullet in his head but he was still fighting Mewtwo like if it was nothing but the weird thing is that his eyes were like he was dead. You were seriously injured by Ganon that was still attacking you. I tried to come and help but I couldn't move."

I nod and he continues.

"Blood poured everywhere and became darker until I was stuck in a black space. Two master hands came in front of me but one was more, well, active. They crushed me, I felt a sore pain in my chest, I heard you scream and I woke up."

That's what I call a weird dream. Hey, wait a minute... I made a dream that looks like this. It was the night just before the tests. I was attacked by Ganon and Fox was just like Young Link described. My partner was leaning on a wall just like he was dying. Then, the same thing that he described to me happened. The blood, the two hands, screams of people I know, pain and the hands that crushed me... How did I dream about Young link? I never talked to him before, I never _saw_ him before. I wonder if... Nah...

"I already had the same dream not so long ago, well, from my point of view."

"Really? That's what I call a coincidence."

"Yeah, I hope it is."

"It's only a dream, Falco, what could it do?"

I sigh.

"I guess you're right."

We stay in an awkward silence for a minute before my friend speaks up.

"Did you know him?"

"Huh?"

"The boy who died."

"Yeah, but he wasn't an extremely great friend."

He looks away for a second.

"The way he died... It was so weird. He wasn't injured at all."

"Mewtwo can crush what he wants; he probably crushed one of his vital organs."

Yeah, he didn't attack us, I still wonder why. The only reason that had sense that I could find is that he decided to kill us later. Oh well, let's just hope that we don't run into him.

We heard a girl's scream, Zelda's scream. We look at each other; she's too far to go see her like we did for Roy. My friend gives me a worried look.

"I hope she's okay."

"So do I..."

She'd better be. She can't leave Link like that! It saddens me just to think about him crying next to her death body... I shake my head. It isn't the good moment to think about things like that! I stand up.

"We should get going; I have a bad feeling about all this."

He frowns.

"By the time we arrive, she could be already death."

"She's with Link; I'm sure she'll be okay. I was talking about us, if Mewtwo or Ganon is at the opposite way, it means that..."

"... The other is around here!"

I nod and he stands up, ready to go. We start walking forward. We just walked for a couple of minutes that I get, well, _bored_. I turn to my partner that was already looking at me. He looks away and I smirk.

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet!"

He smiles and looks back at me.

"You're bored too?"

"Yep."

He giggles.

"Then how about you tell me a story about where you're from?"

I smile.

"Okay, what do you want to hear about?"

"How you met Fox."

I pass my hand behind my neck.

"This isn't a quite cool story."

"Is it sad or something? Can you still tell it?"

"Yeah, let's just say it's a story that wouldn't be good for bed-time."

I close my eyes for a second before reopening them.

He's just lucky; his dad is the most rich of them all! He's already surrounded by friends. Well, I should say the other spoiled kids. It's just a matter of time before he bullies us, the medium level. The second bell rings. It would be funny that this vulpine misses his bus. I imagine him trying to get home by feet and crying because he's lost. Heheh... Oh wait, it isn't funny for everyone. I put my bag on my shoulder and put my headphones. I'm stopped by a lynx. Joshua he's called, just a random bastard. He says something but I don't hear anything because of my music. I just continue walking.

"Go fuck yourself kitty."

He let go and get away. Good, I don't want to see his face anymore. I walk for a couple of minutes before arriving in my house. I put my things next to the door.

"I'm home!"

My dad shows up with a weird look on his face. I don't know why but I have a bad feeling...

"Where's mom?"

"Somewhere else, but don't worry, you'll join her soon."

He raises his fist full of blood and I open the door to slam it on his head. Without thinking, I rush out in the forest in front of my house. I go in completely random direction. I run for hours until I'm too exhausted to move. He didn't follow me; well at least I lost him. I lean against a tree. I stay like this for a minute before I hear footsteps.

Move, Falco!  
But it hurt!  
If I don't move I'm dead!  
But I can't!

Here my dad stands, apparently ready to strike. I cover my head with my arms. I scream like I never did. He starts punching me. It hurts but there's nothing I can do. He suddenly stops and I look up to see a fox holding him on the ground. Wait, isn't it James Mccloud? The one from the academy approaches me.

"Are you okay?"

I nod weakly and he smiles.

"We called the police, they should arrive soon."

I smile and fall asleep.

"When I woke up, I was in his room and we got to know each other. I told him the whole story and I don't know how but he convinced his parents to keep me like their own son."

I sigh.

"I was here when his dad died. I was the one who comforted him the whole time."

I look down at my partner. He stares at me for a moment before looking away.

"Wow... And I was thinking that you ran into each other in the street..."

We were so concentrated in my story that we didn't notice how dark the place became. We both stop and sit at the same moment without consulting each other. We stay like this for a moment before I stand up.

"I'll get some wood; it surely won't come by itself."

He smirks and nods while I stand and walk away. I walk for a minute or two until I find a big pile of dry wood. I wonder how it got in such a perfect pile... Meh... Who cares? I just take it and head back from where I came.

"Hey, I'm back!"

I drop all the wood I collected by the sight of Mewtwo holding my partner in the air. He gives me a panicked look.

"Falco! Get away! Don't worry about me, just go!"

Mewtwo turns to me.

"Not so fast."

I wish I could shoot him with my gun but my arm won't move. My whole body doesn't obey me anymore, even my eyes. They stare blankly forward. Young Link lands softly on the ground next to Mewtwo with a satisfied grin. My partner approaches me with the same smile.

"So you fell in our trap..."

_Our_? Don't tell me that... No... He was with Mewtwo since the beginning! All of this, it was all a plan to kill me! He made me like him so I would die in that trap and I fell blindly in it! Why did I protect him the whole time? How come I didn't see his true purpose behind those smiles? He takes my blaster and points it at my head.

"Killed by your own gun! How sad... I'm glad you saved me from that fire the other day or I wouldn't be doing that now!"

He then pulls the trigger.

"Wake up, dammit!"

I look up. My partner is still hanging in the air. What happened? I'm dead, aren't I? I don't understand anything... I close my eyes. I can still hear my partner scream even if I try to cut my link to life and end all this shit.

"I swear I'll kill you!"

Oh but you won't need to, because I'm dead, right? Just agonizing until I am, I guess. I stay like this for a moment before I hear my partner's voice again but this time he's just next to me. I could almost say he's crying but I don't think he is. I mean, he killed me after all, right?  
"I'm so sorry, I should've act earlier!"  
You mean, _kill me _earlier, you bastard! I feel my gun under my hand. I take it and shoot.

"LIAR!"

I hear him groan loudly. I finally dare to open my eyes. I sit up and look at the kid in front of me. He's not dead already. I almost hit the heart but I didn't; I was just next to it. I raise my gun at him but I'm suddenly stopped by the look on his face. One of those 'why' looks surrounded by his wet cheeks and the tears streaming down his eyes. A purely innocent one full of pain. Physical pain and the pain of being betrayed. He never shot me. He wasn't by Mewtwo side. It was all a vision, a vision that Mewtwo created to make me lose the will to live. When my partner said that I'll kill you he was talking to that Pokemon, not to me. I just realize the mistake I made, probably the biggest mistake I'll ever make in my life. I almost killed him but he didn't do anything wrong.  
I let go of my gun and go by his side. I'm lucky; there wasn't any vital organs affected, he'll be just fine. I gently put his head on my shoulder and wrap my arms around him.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't know what I was doing..."

I get no reaction from him. If he doesn't want to talk to me again, I would understand.  
For sure words will never explain how sorry and guilty I am.

**Well, this chapter came pretty late but I was on vacation so I didn't have my computer to correct it.**

**Please, review, I like when you do.**


	8. Chapter 8: Last Day

Chapter 8:Last day

Sleep, I think I would give anything right now to have some. The sun is rising; I didn't get any sleep, obviously. I didn't get any answers from him hours ago because he fell unconscious when I hugged him. I didn't realize it until I let go. I close my eyes. It's never been so silent before, it's incredible to think that the night is the only time that you can get some rest. I mean, everyone moves and attacks in the day, right? C'mon, who sleeps during the day? They all know that we're active during the day and that they might get killed if they fall asleep when the sun's there. Hmmm... Maybe they're all saying this to themselves and they decide to get active in the night... Meh, whatever. Hey, Smasher that reads my thought, could you kill me now? I want to sleep... Oh yeah, true, I wouldn't wake up. I changed my mind, don't kill me...

Great, I'm now talking to a smasher that can read minds and actually doesn't kill me by seeing my tiredness. Heh, tiredness, _tired _**Ness. **I'll never see words that finish with _ness_ the same way now. I don't know if there's a god somewhere, but there is, he sure loves seeing me agonise in my stupidness. Geez, I can think about weird things when I'm sleepy. I just realize I didn't open my eyes yet. It's pretty tough but I do it and suppress a yawn. I should move before I fall asleep. I jump on a nearby tree and climb on the highest branch to take a quick look around. I can't see anything wrong, that's good. I take a peek at the bottom of the tree to see that my partner is awake. I smile and jump just in front of him. He gasps when he sees me and points his sword towards me. I put my hand on the sword and lower it.

"Hey, calm down, you know I won't eat you!"

He doesn't smile back.

"May I ask you who you are?"

I immediately lose my grin.

"This isn't a joke to do, you know."

He stays serious and points back his sword.

"Who are you?"

Those words full of venom act like a knife twisting in my heart. He isn't joking at all. He just lost his memory. How? I don't know! Maybe it's that bullet of mine that made a sort of reaction but how a bullet under the heart can make someone lose his memory? Maybe Mewtwo has something to do with it. I don't know.

"It's Falco, your companion for the week, don't you remember?"

"What week?"

"Each year, we do some tests and the ten better are chosen for a week of survival. We both have been chosen. We used to stay out together. We're on the sixth day and… oh yeah; Mewtwo and Ganondorf are two bastards."

He lowers his sword but it is still pointed at me.

"Okay, well, what happened during the other days?"

"On the first day, we searched for water and found some in the evening. On the second, you made a bow and we've been attacked by Ganon in the middle of a forest fire; you almost died that day but you managed to stay alive. On the third, we stopped by a weird lake that was actually cursed. During the fourth, we encounter some weird creature that looked like spiders and we found out that Roy, one of those that were chosen, had died by the hands of Mewtwo. Finally, yesterday, we heard Zelda, another smasher, scream but we don't know if she's alive but I guess she is and we got attacked by Mewtwo. I almost died like Roy did but you screamed at me and it saved me. You fell unconscious and here we are."

I didn't say the bullet part; I don't think it's vital to say it. He finally put his sword away.

"Okay, I believe you."

I sight in relief. I hated the way he pointed that sword. I stand up.

"You're hungry?"

He nods and we arrange the rest of the fox that we eat in silence. He surely doesn't act like the first time we met. He was the shyest boy I've ever met and he trusted me right away but now, he doesn't seem to trust me a lot. Yeah, ok, it's true that if the first thing you see when you wake up is my smiley face, you may be scared of me for a while. Once we're both done eating I reach for his bow and pass it to him.

"We should hunt now; it's always better then when we're already hungry."

He nods again and we start walking forward. I find a perfect tree for hunting. My partner gasps when I grab him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just getting you on that tree, calm down... How many arrow you have left?"

"Ten, I should be alright."

Once he's on it, I jump on another one at the other side of him. We stay like this for a pretty long time and nothing actually happens. Let's say it's pretty boring. After what feels like an eternity, we finally see some ducks in the sky. Young Link shoots but misses. I shoot at my turn and get one that falls right in my tree, that's what I call luck. I take the animal and jump on my partner's tree. I'm about to grab him when he pushes me away.

"I can do it on my own, thanks."

He jumps down the tree. I could say he turned a bit arrogant, just like me back in my airwing. I jump down just behind him when he turns with a voice full of venom.

"You know what? I can take care of myself! I'm not a little puppy, I can do things on my own, I don't need you and I don't think you need me neither. See you at the end."

He turns back and starts running forward. I stay behind, stunned. He's definitely not the shy boy that trusted me anymore. It's useless if I go after him; he'll just push me away again. I go back where the camp was and sit down. I'm so tired, tired about everything. Ganon, Mewtwo, that week, surviving, the fact that sleeping will probably me difficult to have. But I have to hang on. I close my eyes for a second. I try to open them but it's too difficult. Against my will, I fall asleep.

Falling, for hours, in a black emptiness. Where I fell, where I'm going? I don't know! I'm surely not alone because I hear sound a lot of sounds. Screaming, laughing, speaking, even some instruments. Then everything shuts down and a weird mask arrives in front of me. It has a human face form. It has some white hair and a blue _V_ on the forehead. Some red lines surround the two black holes that form the eyes. I try to reach it but it keeps going just a little farther than my hands can go. Is it me or it cracked? It continues cracking until it breaks in two different parts. That's when I hear Young Link's gentle voice.

"We did it Falco... It's all over now..."

A violent kick in my chest wakes me up. I try to move but somebody grabs my neck and lifts me. I open my eyes to see the last person I wanted to see in my whole life: Ganondorf. An evil grin appears on his face.

"I could kill you now, but I want a fight."

He throws me on a nearby tree and I fall on my back so I face the dark sky. I stand up and lean against the tree. Ganon approaches me with the same smile.

"So you finally got rid of your little friend... Or he got rid of you maybe?"

I don't want to fight right now. I jump on a branch in the tree.

"Look, I don't feel for this... What about a forfeit?"

He loses his grin immediately.

"Forfeit? You better be joking!"

He then starts to punch the tree I'm on. Of course I wouldn't do forfeit with this guy because he wouldn't accept it. I jump on another tree and take my gun to aim at him. The heart, I have to aim for the heart. As soon as I pull the trigger, Ganon turns and blocks the bolt. I jump above him and shoot him like crazy with my blaster until I'm near enough to kick him in the face. He flinches and makes a sword appear in his hand. Well, that's new, it just appears like that. Is it even allowed? I rapidly use phantasm and appear behind him with his sword in my hand but he makes another one appear. He tries to strike but I block it with the sword. Damn it, it's really heavy and my hands feel like they're burning even if they're not. I drop it and get away. My hands hurt badly. He tries to hit me again but I duck and I pass my feet on his legs so he falls. I'm about to jump away when he grabs my leg and throws me with a non-human force. I knock down four trees before lying on the ground. Well, let's say those trees saved my life because there a high cliff just behind me. I try to stand but Ganon puts his feet on my chest and press it. I can't help but scream at the pain traveling through my chest. I think he broke a rib or two. I grab his ankle but I can't lift it. He presses harder and I cough some blood. My gun... Where is it? There... I point it at Ganon's face and pull the trigger. He dodges it just in time. I take advantage of it and move away from his foot to get up and breathe a little. Ganondorf grabs my neck and place me just above the cliff. He takes the hand that holds my blaster and presses it really hard. I hear a strange sound from it as I drop my gun and groan in pain. He laughs and let me fall. I try to grab something, anything that would make me stop falling but the only thing I find is the rough ground on my leg. It hurts like hell. I try to move but I just can't. Maybe I should just close my eyes, the pain will be gone, and I won't have to fight anymore. No, I can't, I promised to Fox that I would hang on until the end, I can't give up like this. My opponent land next to me and looks at me right in the eyes while he raises his sword.

That's it. He'll kill me. A sword in the chest, what a classic death. I'm sorry Fox, I couldn't hang on.

**There ya go! By the way it isn't over yet! Please review!**

***ahem***

**I said review**

**Do it now.**

**Or Ganon and I will get you (Mouahahahahaha I'm so demonic)**


	9. Chapter 9: Last day

**Chapter 9: Last day**

I look at him right in the eyes. If there's a thing to do now, it's to show him I'm not afraid of death. I'll stand against him until the end. His sword is about to touch my chest when I see a bright light for a second. Ganon isn't there anymore. I turn my head on the right to see him facing Young Link with his sword in hand.

"Don't you dare to touch him!"

Ganon tries to attack him but he gets away and stabs him in the back. He then pushes him on the rock wall in front so it hits his head. Ganon falls on the solid ground. When he stands up, we both expect that he tries to strike but he just levitates to get to the top of the cliff.

"I'll come back later then…"

He finally disappears from my sight as Young link approaches me.

"We have to get you out of there."

He takes me on his shoulder and the pain in my leg comes back which makes me groan loudly. My partner puts me down and leans me against the wall.

"Oh, sweet Nayru…"

I take a peek at it and see what's wrong; it's normal above the knee but beneath it, my leg's twist at 90 degrees. I even see my bone from the outside and it bleeds like hell. My partner puts one hand on my feet.

"I'll have to replace it on its original position, you're ready?"

I nod; I don't think the pain can be worse than it already is. I've never been this wrong in my whole life; the pain is a hundredth time worse. I scream when he replaces it but it feels a little better now. At least I don't see my bone anymore. I close my eyes. It's the only way out of that horrible pain. My partner shakes me gently.

"Hey, you stay with me, okay?"

I look at him and nod. It's the last day; I think I can endure it. Just a couple of hours... We look around to find a way out of that place but the only thing we find is that rock wall. Young Link sighs.

"Oh well, I guess it's time to use it..."

He takes out a rope with a weird-shaped rock attached on it. He gets a little further before making spin the rope. He does that for a second before he let go so the rock gets around a tree branch above the cliff. He ties the rope around my waist and smiles.

"We'll soon be out, just wait a second."

My partner climbs up the rope until he's on top of the cliff before pulling it up. I feel so useless. No I _am _useless. What will happen if we get attacked? Young Link will have to defend me. Even if I have my gun, I don't think it will make a difference, I can't use the hand I normally use since is crushed so I don't know if I will aim greatly. It feels like an eternity but I finally touch the ground. My friend leans me against a tree and presses my leg. I groan by the pain as he stares at me with a worried look.

"Sorry, but you started bleeding just like if you opened a sink, I can't let you like that."

I can't help but smile.

"It feels weird."

"What's wrong?"

"It's a weird feeling when someone touches your flesh..."

I close my eyes and feel my head fall on my chest. I open them when my partner puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Stay awake, you may not wake up."

He sigh, well, I think, it sounds a bit like sobbing though.

"I shouldn't have abandoned you like this..."

"Past is past there's nothing you can do to it."

"Yeah, you're right. We should head for the clock."

He's about to grab me but I stop him.

"No, Mewtwo and Ganon will surely wait for us there. We should wait until it's pretty late."

He nods and takes his hand full of my blood off my leg that stopped bleeding.

"Still, I can't move you or you'll start bleeding again."

"Another reason to not move..."

"But if we stay here Ganon will surely come back!"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that detail."

"I don't think he'll wait all-day to get back too."

We stay silent for a moment, both thinking about what we should do. My partner takes off his scabbard and ties the belt tight around my leg.

"I think it's the best we can do."

"I agree."

He takes my arm around his neck and put his arm around my waist. At least I can support myself with my other leg. We walk like this for a while. Well, I should say hours because the sun is fully raised when we decide to stop for a moment. I sit down backing a tree while Young Link takes off the belt. He can't hide a disgusted face. I frown.

"What's wrong?"

"Your leg... I think it's decomposing or something..."

I take a peek at it to find out that it actually does. Great, like if we had not enough problem like this. Ugh, I can't wait until the week is done. My partner put the belt back on my leg.

"We should head back to the clock, it got really worse."

I nod.

"But we shouldn't go too fast, the best would be to arrive just in time."

"I agree. I'll climb in that tree to see which direction we should take, if you don't mind."

"Why would it?"

He shrugs.

"I don't know."

He starts climbing with such ease that I thought he was flying until the last branch. I don't see him but I guess he's looking around to see where the clock is. He gets down after a moment.

"We have a lot of walking to do; it's almost at the other side of the map."

I sigh.

"Oh well then, I guess we should start now."

He grabs me so we have the same position then a moment ago and we start walking. It's a pretty boring day I should say but I don't complain; I prefer that then a freaking storm. We walk like this during the whole day.

It's been a while since the sky is dark. We're both really weary but we just can't afford to sleep; the week is almost done, we're almost home. We decide to take one last break before getting to the clock there's maybe an hour left before the week is done. I lay on the grass and Young Link climbs in a nearby just to see how far we have to do. I let him climb up and stay on the ground enjoying stopping walking for a bit. Both of my legs hurt. One because I walked too much on it and the other, well, because it's _decomposing_.

I hear footsteps that make me notice that I closed my eyes. I open them.

"So, are we fa-?"

It isn't my partner in front of me, it's Ganon and his sword rose above my face. He's about to stab my head with it when an arm gets just in front of me. Young Link screams as his arm starts bleeding like hell. Apparently frustrated, Ganondorf grabs his collar and smash him on the tree he climbed in a second ago. The Gerudo punches him hard in the stomach. I mean _really_ hard, there's blood coming out of it. He keeps punching him. He's going to kill him! I take my blaster and try to aim but it isn't easy. I trust my instincts and shoot. My bolt gets right in Ganon's hand. He let go of my partner and I shoot at him again. This time, he gets my bullet right in the shoulder. I shoot another that ends up in his throat. He falls on the ground, unconscious. I approach my partner, alive and awaken. He smiles.

"Thanks, I'm sure he would've killed me."

I take off his arm from his stomach to see that it is really bad. He put it back on it.

"I'm okay, I can walk... Let's just go..."

I'm not letting him walk like this. Even if this might kill me I grab him and jump as far as I can. I groan loudly by the pain in my leg. I continue like this until we arrive in the glade just in time. The clock disappears and a door takes its place. I try to take a step forward but I feel my leg twist and I fall on the ground. Young Link grabs me and puts me on his shoulder. He walks forward for a good moment before he reaches the door knob that he turns. He enters in the huge white room. He falls on the ground and so do I. I think I can hear Fox but I'm not sure. I close my eyes and lose consciousness.

**There you go the pre-final chapter! Please review! It's really important to me!**


	10. Chapter 10: The After-Day

**Chapter 10: The after-day**

I wake up in a white room. I look at the bright walls that blind me for a moment. I turn my head to the left to see Fox sitting on a chair just next to me. He didn't notice me yet since he's looking out the window. It takes a while but I finally manage to articulate something.

"Hey."

He turns to me.

"Hey."

I can easily see how he's containing himself to jump on me. He leans on the side of my bed. I hope he won't do a questionnaire just like when I come back from lone trips. I mean, I just woke up; I'm not ready to tell him my whole week in details. Instead, he asks me the simplest question I could think of.

"How are you feeling?"

I sigh. Even if the question is quite simple, I find it hard to answer it. I don't feel any pain, but I'm as tired as hell.

"I've already been better but I'm fine."

He smiles.

"Glad to hear that."

"How long have I been out?"

"Eight days."

I smirk.

"The week before was the longest of my life and this one was the shortest, pretty funny."

An idea sparks in my mind.

"Wait, where's Young Link?"

Fox points the opposite direction.

"There."

I turn to the right and see the kid in a bed just next.

"What happened while I was out?"

"The whole thing?"

I nod.

*** (Fox's POV)

I could feel my heart stop when they crossed that door. I knew they were weary and both hurt badly but it was still a shock. The kid fell and Falco followed. I rushed to my friend that was still awakened.

"Falco, hold on!"

I just finished those words, he was already out. At least, he wasn't dead. I heard Dr. Mario's voice next to me.

"Bring the resuscitator, fast!"

I first thought it was for Falco but I rapidly found out that it was for his partner that had died just before he fell. I was glad it wasn't Falco that died but I was scared for the boy; he was his friend after all...

They brought rapidly the resuscitator as Link entered in the room followed by Pikachu and Kirby. It took seconds that felt like an eternity but they managed to wake him up. I sighed in relief and smiled knowing he would be okay but I lost my grin when he started coughing out blood. A puddle of blood was constantly growing on the floor. When he stopped, he looked at me with a blank gaze. I wasn't even sure he could actually see me.

"Are you Fox?"

"Yes."

He smiled weakly.

"Take care of him, okay?"

I didn't even have time to nod that he was out. Dr. Mario placed him on his shoulder and ran to the hospital's chambers. I stayed with Falco, knowing that I shouldn't move his leg. That's when Mario entered, seriously injured rapidly followed by Mewtwo and Ganon. He looked weary but he could still walk and stay wake. I looked up at Ganondorf that smirked when he saw how bad Falco was. I was containing myself to beat him up because I knew I wasn't allowed to do so. I concentrated back on Falco until the doctor got back with a bed to put him in. I installed him on it and followed the doctor as he went in the hospital rooms. I was about to enter with him when he closed the door just in front of me.

"Where was Zelda in all that?"

Fox looks at me like he didn't know who Zelda was. I repeat my question.

"Where was Zelda? I thought she was with Link."

He passes a hand on the back of his neck.

"Oh, Zelda..."

I've got a bad feeling...

"Don't tell me that..."

He takes a deep breath.

"Yes Falco, she's dead. Ganon murdered her. Link arrived too late."

That's surely hard for him. I hope he isn't blaming himself for it.

I look at my partner and sits on my bed. I'm about to stand when Fox stops me.

"Wait, I don't think you're ready to walk yet."

Oh, right, my leg. I completely forgot about it. It doesn't look bad, I'll admit it. Just by sight, I would say it's fully healed but I know there's surely still some work to do with it. A female voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Hey Falco, glad to see you're finally awake."

"Hey, Samus!"

Her blond hairs are tied up in a long braid that stops at the bottom of her back. She wears a black leather coat with jeans and black boots. She puts a hand on her hip and smiles.

"What's wrong?"

"Seeing you without your armor... It's different."

She shrugs and turns to Fox that nods.

"I'll be back in a minute, Falc'."

I nod as he gets out of the room with Samus. I wait a couple of seconds just to be sure he's gone before trying to stand. I'm glad to see I can. I'm limping but I manage to walk to Young Link's bed. I sit on it and look at him for a moment. I sigh and look at the door just to be sure that nobody's around because I'm going to do something that will look stupid. I take a deep breath and let it go.

"If you can hear me, look at me."

I wait a couple of seconds but nothing happens. Of course, it wasn't going to work, what was I thinking? I sigh and close my eyes.

"Falco?"

I take a look at Young Link with both of his eyes opened. I smile as he does the same.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired."

I smirk.

"The same as me."

He sits up.

"Eight days, just like me."

"I wish the week before had passed as fast as that."

"You're not the only one thinking like that, trust me."

He smiles and stares shyly at the white blanket.

"So we both made it, just like you promised..."

He remembered it? I mean, I completely forgot about it. I stay surprised for a second when he hugs me.

"Thank you, I would never have done it without you."

I wrap my hands around him.

"Me neither. I would be death by now if you would not have been there."

(...)

"So, I guess we just have to say goodbye."

Young Link nods before getting a last hug. We separated from each other and my friend takes out a blue instrument that he calls _ocarina_.

"I guess I'll see you next year, right?"

"Yup."

I lose my grin just thinking about next year. I won't be able to hide my skills anymore. I'm screwed for the rest of my days. He puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry; I'll be there with you next year, I promise!"

I look at him. Geez, I didn't know he could read my thought by the expression on my face! My friend plays a song on the ocarina and smiles at me just before his body transforms into green sparks that flies away in the sky. He'll surely be there next year. Yeah, I know I can trust him, I'll always do.

**There you go with the final chapter! Tell me what you thought about it! Thanks for reading and see you in future stories!**


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